Tragedy
by Vee-Jay Hedgehog
Summary: The continuation from Destinations. Everything James knew as his world has come crashing down around his ears, a time which he will never forget for the rest of his young life...


Disclaimer: I don't own Enterprise, that credit goes solely to Brannon Braga and Co. of Paramount Pictures, who have been geniuses for 30+ years of Star Trek.  
  
Based loosely on a comic my rl bf is doing about the future generations of Enterprise NX-01's famous crew.  
  
The Continuation from "Destinations"  
  
"TRAGEDY"  
  
It was like a nightmare. One minute they'd been having so much fun and the next the world had caved in on them. On board the Secret Service Shuttlecraft, James Archer sat silently between Magellan and his officers. Vee-Jay Reed was imprisoned in the second shuttlecraft travelling alongside theirs, charged with murder, and in the third shuttlecraft lay the bodies of his foster Mother and Father. She had been injured during the confusion, so it made no sense to him. How could she have murdered them if she'd been injured before they'd died? Moreta hadn't been taken in for questioning so he wasn't sure why Magellan had only arrested Vee-Jay. "ETA?" he heard the older man ask. "Seven minutes, Sir." "The trial will begin at 1700 hours, Cadet," Magellan was saying. "You're to be present there within the hour." James wasn't listening to him. It was obvious to the other officers that the loss of his foster parents had kept him in this state of shock. They kept silent as a respectful gesture as the shuttles bore down on Starfleet Academy. Admiral Alynna Nechayev and Markus Dolthin were waiting for them to arrive. Markus said nothing as Vee-Jay was dragged roughly from the shuttlecraft and pushed to the ground in front of the Admirals. James couldn't even look at her. It was like she'd betrayed a part of him. Magellan explained what had happened as James tried to listen. "She won't need a representative," Alynna smirked. "The deaths of Admiral William and Lady Deanna Riker are enough to put her away for a long time." It was then James noticed the Admiral's face. He had never seen such glowering hatred eminating from any one person. Vee-Jay however looked as defiant as the first day he'd met her. "What about her mutt, Admiral?" "Have whoever wants to take that animal look after him. She won't be needing anything where she's going." "Understood." "Take her to the brig. Put her under the heaviest guard possible." "Yes, Ma'am," Magellan replied. Alynna walked past James and put a hand on his shoulder. James looked up. "I'm sorry for the deaths of your foster parents, son," she told him. "Let it never be said that murder is treated lightly in Starfleet Command." "Like hell anything is treated lightly," Vee-Jay retorted. "Especially not since you started those mercy killings of yours!" "SHUT UP!" Magellan burst out, backhanding her across the face. James noted how the Admiral gripped his shoulder the moment Vee-Jay had spoken. It was like she'd touched a very raw nerve. Mercy killings? What is she talking about? "Take the traitor away," Alynna ordered. James watched helplessly as his friend was dragged away by the MPs.  
  
"It's not right," Elson was saying later on in James' quarters. "Vee-Jay had nothing to do with it!" "She was hurt trying to get to the Admiral and his wife," Moreta explained, patting Albert. "I was there! There was no way she could have killed them!" "What happened to them exactly, Moreta?" Isaac asked. "Vee-Jay saw this tree heading towards them and cried out to them," Moreta explained, starting to cry. "She tripped and went down just as the tree fell on them." "That's when the third explosion happened," Simon nodded thoughtfully. "So did a rock hit her in the ankle or something?" "Yeah. Vee-Jay had just gotten up to run towards the fallen tree and the rock hit her right here," Moreta gestured to her right ankle. "She cried out and went down. I went to see if the Admiral and his wife were okay and." "They weren't, were they?" Jesse asked quietly. "No." Isaac put his arm around James' shoulder. "The trial starts in five minutes, James," Isaac said gently. "Are you going to go, or are you going to stay here?" James didn't answer. "James?" Moreta asked. "I know you can't face this right now, but Vee-Jay will need you to be there. She's not a murderer and we all know it. You know it." James nodded silently. "We're coming with you, man," Elson added. "Let's go," James replied quietly, getting up.  
  
"Cadet Victoria Elisha Julia Reed, you stand trial for your full part in the murder of Admiral William Thomas and Lady Deanna Riker, foster parents of James Douglas Archer, two valued officers that have served Starfleet Command and the Admiralty for many years. How do you plead to these accusations of Murder in the First Degree?" James and his other friends sat in the front row of the Admiralty Court Room as Vee-Jay stood trial for the murder of his foster parents. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to be falsely accused for murder, and he and his friends knew Vee-Jay was innocent; so their shock was profoundly obvious when they heard Vee-Jay's response: "Guilty on both counts." "NO!" Simon cried. "Vee-Jay! What are you doing?" "VEE-JAY!" James cried as the MPs grabbed her from the stand. "I'm sorry, James," Vee-Jay replied sadly as she headed past him. "I had to. You'll understand why I had to when the war begins." James was stunned. War? What the hell was Vee-Jay on about? "Get moving you!" Magellan ordered, shoving her. Magellan led Vee-Jay out of the room, leaving her stunned group of friends behind. "You'll be happy to know all of the Gulag have stated bets on your return," Magellan smirked. "Safe bet that they thought I'd kill you in the end," Vee-Jay snickered, still limping. Magellan's face grew stony. "Let's see how much humour you have after you get back in there!" he snarled. "Much more than you, I expect." Magellan kicked her into the waiting shuttlecraft angrily. Vee-Jay smirked as the doors closed. Let's go for the skies, shall we? Vee-Jay struggled for a bit and just managed to click a button on her chronometer. She smiled as the shuttlecraft took off. It was time for the Admiralty to pay for their crimes.  
  
"Eh?" Lieutenant Trey Davisonn looked up at the diagnostic map of the Alpha Quadrant that made up the wall across from his desk. A red dot was beeping just above Earth. "Vee-Jay!" he gasped. Trey pressed a button on the console attached to his desk. "Yes?" "Sir, it's Commander Saint Mark! She's reported in!" "Finally! It's about time she did so! Where is she?" "Just leaving Starfleet Command Headquarters," Trey replied, checking her location on the map. "The shuttlecraft is en route to the Gulag!" "Looks like the plan is in motion. Assign Geoffrey, Rebekkah and Cassandra to intercept and rescue her! I'll be waiting for them in the shuttlebay!" "Yes, Sir!" Lieutenant Commander Jeremiah Saint Borealis got up from his desk and headed quickly for the shuttlebay. He had known Vee-Jay since she was a very young child and had been her friend for many years. He had recenly been promoted to her Lieutenant Commander in the Rebellion and served her as her loyal officer and companion. Vee-Jay's assignment to the Secret Service of Starfleet Command had ratted out Magellan Zalinski as one of the few dedicated 'Mercy Killers' - officers assigned to weed out the weakest links in the Chain of Command. Magellan had been part of the Secret Service since he was a baby, trained and manipulated to believe he was higher up than anyone else he served with because of his training. Vee- Jay's arrival in the Secret Service had caused him to hate her. When she had discovered his profession as a Mercy Killer, she had started her own faction of the service known as the Secret Service Alliance; or the Secret Service Rebellion as they had been aptly titled by Moreta Leiquinne, daughter of Kayleina and Jastien Leiquinne, Vice Chancellors of Bajor. Vee- Jay had never liked the Admiralty, but had gained the respect and trust of many of them, Admirals Picard, Riker, Sisko and others. Jeremiah regrettably hadn't encountered as many nicer Admirals as he would have liked when he was a cadet. "Report!" Jeremiah ordered as he entered the shuttlebay. "Sir, the Galaxia and the Skelier have changed course to intercept the shuttlecraft carrying Commander Reed." "ETA?" "Eighteen minutes, Sir." "Not good odds. Tell the Skelier to put on more speed!" "Aye, Sir!" "What about the Galaxia, Sir?" "Tell the Galaxia to pull back. This is the Skelier's battle." "Yes, Sir!" "Lieutenants Saint Elmo, Jamesfords and Ogilvie reporting for duty, Sir!" Jeremiah nodded at his friends. "Let's go! The Admiralty wanted a war and they've finally got one!"  
  
"What the hell is that?!" Vee-Jay's attention diverted from her handcuffs to the scene happening outside the shuttlecraft. A huge wormhole had ripped open from out of nowhere! The MP flying the shuttlecraft panicked. "Jesus Christ!" "It's a wormhole!" yelled the other. "What the heck is it doing here?!" The shuttlecraft banked left extremely hard as a huge Intrepid-Class Starship burst out of the wormhole that had opened in front of them. "Sensors indicate the ship is the USS Skelier!" "The Skelier?! But she was decommissioned in 2325!" "That's what you think!" Vee-Jay smirked. The MPs looked back just as Vee-Jay was transported off the shuttlecraft and onto a second shuttlecraft that blazed past them. The USS Skelier then opened fire on the shuttlecraft.  
  
Vee-Jay landed hard on the floor of the transporter in the second shuttlecraft. "Welcome back, Commander Reed!" Jeremiah smiled. He then noticed her bleeding ankle. "Hell! What happened to you?" "Long story," she half-smiled, pushing herself up onto her knees. "Did Leroy get here with them okay?" "Yup," Geoffrey grinned. "Did fantastic time on it too!" "Here, let me get those cuffs off you," Cassandra piped up. Cassandra helped Vee-Jay up. "Better let Del take a look at that ankle of yours when we get back, Commander," she smiled, helping her sit down. "Yeah, yeah. What about the MPs?" "They've lost impulse drive." "Tell the Skelier to tow them back to Federation boundaries." "Yes, Ma'am!" Vee-Jay thought for a second. "On second thoughts, tow 'em back and leave a message for Magellan on the hull of that thing." "Now we're talking, Commander!" Rebekkah grinned. "Let's get back to base. We have a lot more work to do before we can return for our other operative friends in Starfleet Academy." Which may take years to grow to fruition, we'll see anyway. I'm sorry it had to be this way, James, guys, but there was little choice for it. You'll see me again. Someday.  
  
  
  
The next few years passed by like a blur for James. He threw himself into his studies, trying to forget Vee-Jay's words at her trial. He had learned from Magellan that the shuttlecraft carrying Vee-Jay to the Gulag on Cardassia had been destroyed by Jem'Hadar ships, so facing the loss of his friend as well as his foster parents was very hard for him to cope with. His friends had tried to help him through it but even they knew it would be a while before he could begin to let go of the past. Moreta herself had graduated earlier than they had and had returned home to Bajor to take precedence over her people. As graduation for them fast approached, everyone was looking forward to being posted on the newest starship of the fleet, The USS Glyder, the biggest Intrepid-Class Starship ever built. James had recently received news that he might be promoted to Commanding Officer or even Captain of the Glyder itself within the first few months. "Dude that's big news!" Isaac grinned. "I got a helmsman position on that ship!" "I'm the Medical Assistant!" Elson yelled joyfully. "I'm in Engineering! ALRIGHT!" Simon cheered. "Same here!" Adam grinned. "Me too!" Jesse smirked. "Oh no!" Adam and Simon groaned in unison. Even James had to laugh at that. Jesse's love of cupcakes and explosives always got Adam and Simon in trouble. Jesse raised his glass of champagne.  
  
"To the USS Glyder, may we serve her well!" "Hear, hear!" Adam grinned. "And to Vee-Jay Reed, our companion and friend." Everyone looked at Jesse in shock. "May the stars forever lead her home." "Thanks, Jesse," James said warmly. "No prob, man." "To Vee-Jay," the boys murmured before downing their glasses.  
  
Little did any of them realise how soon they'd find themselves involved in the biggest war of the Alpha Quadrant's history.  
  
~*To Be Continued!*~  
  
Author's note: Sorry for such a short and compacted version of events, but time was of the essence irl for me ^^; I have a habit of doing things that don't usually take precedence over other stuff. I was listening to Garth Brooks' "Wild As The Wind" when I wrote this 4th part of the Secret Service Alliance Beginnings, so it kinda helped me think of some more instances to mention in the coming parts of the Beginnings storyline. The war begins in the next part of the story to be completed soon! Whose side will James and company take? And what of Vee-Jay and the Rebellion? What's underneath the Admiralty's so-called Council and why have they been undertaking all these 'Mercy Killings'? You'll have to read part 5 to find that out ^_~ 


End file.
